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| Black vulture, at the very peak of the Acropolis, showing off its impressive wing span. |
Ek Balam (Mayan for Jaguar Star) is an archeological site about 25 minutes from Valladolid. We took a taxi out there early and arrived shortly after they opened. This turned out to be a very good plan, not only to be there when there were few other visitors but to avoid the worst heat of the day.
Rather than wandering on our own, we hired a tour guide who showed us around and told us much more of the history and interesting tidbits of information than we would have gotten otherwise.
The excavation and restoration of Ek Balam started in 1994 and continued until 2015 when government funding went to other projects. It was open to the public in a limited capacity before this (about 1986) and, as work progressed, became more of a tourist destination in the late 1990’s. There are still two large buildings that haven’t been excavated and looking at the very large “hills” where you can see rock peeking through the grass and weeds provides just a small glimpse of the tremendous amount of work that was involved in what’s currently been restored.
Ek Balam is one of the few Mayan sites that still allows visitors to climb the stairs to the top of the ruins. And really, that was one of the highlights!
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| Welcome arch |
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| Tree of life |
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| Stairs of the Acropolis structure |
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Steep stairs!
It was interesting to see the various comfort levels of people going up and down. |
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| At the top of the stairs |
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| Rooms and carvings half way up the Acropolis |
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| Shell fossil in the stone |
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| The ball field - viewing platform can be seen at the top left. |
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| The game was played with a solid rubber ball weighing about 6-9 lbs. Players could use forearms, hips, and thighs to keep the ball in motion. Hands and feet were restricted. |
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| This is a small part of the building that hasn't been excavated yet. So much work involved! |
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| We saw quite a few iguanas sunning themselves in the heat. |
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| And a small lizard. |
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| I always love murals and these were at the public entrance to the ruins. |
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